Air moistener for internal-combustion engines



April 21, 1925.

J. A. WISE ET AL AIR MOISTENER FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES FiledJuly 23 1924 Patented Apr. 21, 1925 UNITED vSTATES T O F. l C E P A T EJAMES A. WISE AND BENJAMTN J. TARBUTTON, OF SANDERSVILLE, GEORGIA.

AIR MOISTENER FUR INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES.

Application filed July 23, 1924. Serial No. 727,799.

To all whom it may concern:

Be ,it known that we, JAMES A. iSE and BENJAMIN J. TARBUTTON, citizensof the United States, residing'at Sandersville, in the county ofl/Vashington and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Air Moisteners for Internal-Combustion Engines; and .wedo has for its object to provide a device of this character which willbe simple in construction and inexpensive to manufacture.

With these and other objects in v iew the invention resides in the novelcombinations of parts more fully hereinafter disclosed and particularlypointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, in which like numerals designate like partsin all the views, and which are to be taken as a part of thisspecification,

' Figure lie 21. front elevational view ofthe device shown associatedwith the dial board of an automobile;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view partly in section of the parts shownin Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is a rear view of the device.

Figure 1 is a transverse fragmentary sectional view takenon the line ofFig. 1; and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig.1.

This device comprises a cylindrical casing 1 provided with the rear wall2, which is of such a thickness as to contain the cylin- .drical bore 3,forming a passageway for the water. The front of the casing 1 isprovided with the vision glass 1, held in place as by the spring ring 5and forming a leakproof joint to prevent the escapement of any waterthat might collect within said casing.

N ear the upper end of the passageway 3, as seen in Fig. 2, there isprovided an outlet nozzle or passageway 6 which is inclined downwardlyas shown, to insure the drip of the water from the passageway 3.

The casing 1 is suitably supported on the I dial board 10 of anautomobile and in direct view of the driver of said automobile. Rigidwith the casing 1 and forming a valve h usr jng associated therewith isthe lug 11 provided with a bore 12 through which is adapted to pass andoperate a needle valve 13 operated as by the thumb nut 14 on the frontside of the dial plate 10. The needle valve is suitably mounted in thepacking joint 15, as clearly indicated in the views.

The lower end of the passageway 3 connects with the transverselypositioned bore 12 located in the lug 11, as clearly shown in Fig. 5.Leading from the rear end of the lug 11 is the water supply tube 20,adapted to connect with the water circulatory system, but saidconnection is not shown in the drawings. The inner. end of the waterpipe 20,

:see Fig. 5, is positioned within the bore 12 of the lug 11 and its endis suitably ground so as to form the valve seat 21 to take the endof theadjustable needle valve 13. Thus,

water from the circulatory system may pass through the pipe 20, past theneedle valve 13, into the bore 12 and thence upwardly through thepassageway 3 and drip from the outlet 6 into the interior of thecylindrical casing 1.

Near the lug 11 is fastened to the casing 1 an L-shaped casting 25, seeFigs. 3 and 1. This casting is provided with the passage way 26, thelower end of which terminates in the enlarged end 27 which is suitablybored to receive one end of the air supply pipe 28 which, preferably,extends well under the hood 18 of the engine so that the warm airsurrounding the engine is drawn through said tube 28. Air coming throughthe pipe 28 will pass in the direction of the arrows, upwardly throughthe passa eway 26, into the bore 29 adapted to house t e air supplyneedle valve 30 tapered at its extreme end as shown and operated by thethumb nut 31. The rear end of the bore 29 is adapted to receive one endof the discharge pipe 35 which serves to conduct away from the casing lthe air after it has been moistened by the water, and deliver the sameto the intake manifold(not shown) of the engine. The inner end of thepipe 35 is suitably ground to form the valve seat 36 for the end of theadjustable needle valve 30, said needle valve 30 being mounted in asuitable packing joint 15.

Connecting the interior of the casing 1 with the pipe 35 is an outletpassageway 40 inclined to said discharge pipe 35 as shown and throughwhich the water from the said casing may pass, as well as air from thebore 29, It will be observed that in mounting the casing 1 on the dialplate 10, see Fig. 1, the outlet passageway 6 is placed at the uppermostposition of said casing, and

lying in a vertical plane which is equidistant, approximately, from thetwo needle valves controlling the water and air inlets. This, due to thefact that the said casing 1 is cylindrical in form, provides a pocket orreservoir at the bottom of the casing 1, as indicated at 45, so that atall times there may be present in the casing 1 a small quantity ofliquid.

The operation of the device may be understood from the foregoing butwill be briefly summarized as follows: Should the conditions be suchthat it-would be advantageous o add moisture to the vapor being drawninto the engine through the intake manifold thereof, the operator of theautomobile would turn the water needle valve 13 so as to allow waterfrom the circulatory cooling system to enter by way of the pipe 20,passageway 3 and outlet 6, into the cas-V from the interior of thecasing 1, through the'passageway 40, into said pipe, where it would mixwith the air forming a fine mist which, when mixing with the gasolinevapor, would make the desirable explosive charge in the engine. The useof such a device as above described would, of course,

not have to be used at all times, but would vary with the weatherconditions, that is dry or damp weather conditions, and also day ornight driving. Also, the use of such a device will cause a betterexplosion and will combat the formation of carbon in the cylinders ofthe engine, thereby saving fuel. It will be observed that due to thetapered end of the valve 30 and the inclination of the passage outlet40, any air passing said valve 30 Will exert a greateror less suction onsaid outlet 10, and thus tend to draw vapor out of the chamber 1. Itwill also be'observed that by locating the outlet 40 to one side of thevertical plane passing through the nozzle 6, a small quantity of wateris always maintained in the chamber 1 to furnish the moisture for theair sucked out of said chamber.

It is obvious that those skilled in the may vary the details ofconstruction as well as the arrangement of parts without departing fromthe spirit of the invention, and therefore it is not desired to belimited to the foregoing disclosure except as may be required by theclaims.

' What is claimed is:

In a device of the character described, the

combination of a vertically disposed cham ber; an inlet to said chambercomprising a passageway located in the vertical rear wall of saidchamber, one end of said passageway terminating in an angularly disposedoutlet into said chamber overhanging said wall and located at the topportion thereof. a water supply for said chamber connecting'with theother end of said passageway; a valve controlling said water supply; anoutlet from said chamber located at the bottom of said wall and to oneside of the vertical plane passing through said water inlet;an airsupply communicating with said last named outlet to admit air to mixwith the water flowing from said outlet; and a tapered valve controllingsaid air supply.

In testimony whereof we afiix our signatures. JAMES A. WISE. I BENJAMINJ. TARBUTTON.

